Sept. 6, 2012

2012-13 Men's Basketball Schedule

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its 2012-13 men's basketball conference schedule Thursday. The docket includes a league-record 56 nationally televised games and 19 regionally televised games as part of the league's agreements with its media partners for a total of 75 games as part of the Atlantic 10 package.

For the fourth straight year, CBS Sports will broadcast the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship title game as part of its Selection Sunday coverage. The network will also air the VCU at Temple regular season game on March 10. In addition, CBS Sports Network will nationally air 32 regular season A-10 matchups, doubling the number of games from last year, and the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

"Securing a record number of national television broadcasts is the best way to showcase the Atlantic 10," Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade stated. "We are poised to have one of the best seasons in A-10 men's basketball history and this television package will allow us to showcase our teams. ESPN and CBS Sports have been outstanding media partners."

ESPN will air 14 additional A-10 regular season games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. This includes a rivalry game in Xavier at Dayton, Gonzaga at Butler on ESPN's College Gameday and a rematch of the 2011 Final Four matchup between Butler and VCU on March 2. In all, ESPN will air seven Conference games and seven non-conference games as part of the Atlantic 10 package.

The 75 televised games will highlight a league coming off of a record eight postseason bids last year. The 2012-13 A-10 features 16 members, including newcomers Butler and VCU, providing new rivalries and further strengthening the A-10 position as the best basketball-centric league in Division I.  The additions allow for new matchups between natural rivals Butler and Saint Louis (Jan. 31, Feb. 22) and VCU and Richmond (Jan. 24, March 6). Long-standing rivalries also highlight the television schedule, including both Dayton-Xavier games, and the Temple-Saint Joseph's game. In all, 52 of the 68 regular season television matchups are Atlantic 10 Conference games, meaning nearly half of the league's 128-game schedule will be televised nationally or regionally.

The first three games of the A-10 television package air on Nov. 13 when Massachusetts, which advanced to the NIT semifinals last year, and returns its key components, hosts Harvard, Butler plays at Xavier in a non-conference matchup and Wichita State plays at VCU. All three games will be a part of the ESPN Tipoff Marathon. Temple is also participating in the ESPN Tipoff Marathon and travel to Kent State for the national televised game.

The 2012-13 conference season tips off on Jan. 9 with six games. The first televised conference game will be played one day later on Jan. 10 when Massachusetts plays at Saint Louis, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round and came within a few points of eliminating No. 1 Seed Michigan State.

Another key game to watch is on Feb. 9 when two of the A-10's resurgent programs, Saint Joseph's and Massachusetts play in Amherst. The Hawks return their entire starting lineup from a team that made a strong run in February last year and is expected to be one of the teams to beat this season.

Top 12 teams will advance to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship at the new, state-of-the-art Barclays Center. First round games will be played on Thursday, March 14, 2013. The winners of those opening round games will advance to the quarterfinal round on Friday, March 15. Those games will be syndicated and air in local and regional markets of selected A-10 members. Semifinal games will be played on CBS Sports Network on Saturday, March 16 and the finals on NCAA Selection Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m., which will air live on CBS Sports.